Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) vs. SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) Head to Head Analysis

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) and SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

81.2% of Hancock Whitney shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.8% of SouthState shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Hancock Whitney shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of SouthState shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Hancock Whitney has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SouthState has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Hancock Whitney and SouthState, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hancock Whitney	0	2	5	1	2.88
SouthState	0	1	8	2	3.09

Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus price target of $61.25, indicating a potential upside of 10.20%. SouthState has a consensus price target of $116.27, indicating a potential upside of 28.07%. Given SouthState’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe SouthState is more favorable than Hancock Whitney.

Dividends

Hancock Whitney pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. SouthState pays an annual dividend of $2.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Hancock Whitney pays out 33.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SouthState pays out 34.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Hancock Whitney has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and SouthState has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Hancock Whitney is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Hancock Whitney and SouthState’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hancock Whitney	22.40%	11.56%	1.32%
SouthState	22.38%	9.62%	1.21%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Hancock Whitney and SouthState”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hancock Whitney	$1.45 billion	3.28	$460.82 million	$5.42	10.25
SouthState	$1.88 billion	4.90	$534.78 million	$6.33	14.34

SouthState has higher revenue and earnings than Hancock Whitney. Hancock Whitney is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SouthState, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

SouthState beats Hancock Whitney on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hancock Whitney

Hancock Whitney Corporation operates as the financial holding company for Hancock Whitney Bank that provides traditional and online banking services to commercial, small business, and retail customers. It offers various transaction and savings deposit products consisting of brokered deposits, time deposits, and money market accounts; treasury management services, secured and unsecured loan products including revolving credit facilities, and letters of credit and similar financial guarantees; and trust and investment management services to retirement plans, corporations, and individuals, and investment advisory and brokerage products. The company also provides commercial and industrial loans including real and non-real estate loans; construction and land development loans; and residential mortgages, as well as consumer loans. In addition, it offers commercial finance products to middle market and corporate clients, including leases and related structures; facilitates investments in new market tax credit activities and holding certain foreclosed assets; provides customers access to fixed annuity and life insurance products; and underwriting transactions products, as well as debt and mortgage-related securities. The company was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Gulfport, Mississippi.

About SouthState

SouthState Corporation operates as the bank holding company for SouthState Bank, National Association that provides a range of banking services and products to individuals and companies. It offers checking accounts, savings deposits, interest-bearing transaction accounts, certificates of deposits, money market accounts, and other time deposits, as well as bond accounting, asset/liability consulting related activities, and other clearing and corporate checking account services. The company also offers commercial real estate loans, residential real estate loans, commercial, and industrial loans, as well as consumer loans, including auto, boat, and personal installment, as well as business, agriculture, real estate-secured (mortgage), home improvement, and manufactured housing loans. In addition, it provides debit card, mobile services, funds transfer products and services, and treasury management services comprising merchant, automated clearing house, lock-box, remote deposit capture, and other treasury services, as well as asset and wealth management, and other fiduciary and private banking services. Further, the company offers safe deposit boxes, bank money orders, wire transfer, brokerage services, and alternative investment products, including annuities, mutual funds, and trust management services; and credit cards, letters of credit, and home equity lines of credit. The company also serves its customers through online, mobile, and telephone banking platforms. The company was formerly known as First Financial Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to SouthState Corporation in July 2013. SouthState Corporation was founded in 1933 and is headquartered in Winter Haven, Florida.